Toyota Motor said that it was abandoning a plant in California that it jointly owned with ailing US giant General Motors, marking the first time it has pulled the plug on a factory. The move follows GM's decision in June to drop its ownership stake in the joint venture, New United Motor Manufacturing Inc, as it restructured under bankruptcy protection. While a final decision on the fate of the plant and its…

Toyota Motor Corporation said that it will cut pay and production by 10% at its British plants, for one year starting from April 1st 2009, to cut costs while avoiding layoffs. Toyota in a statement said that "Following extensive consultation with our employee representatives, and with input from all employees, it has been agreed that the best way to secure long term employment is to temporarily reduce…

Reuters reported that US auto sales tumbled by 23% in September as showrooms emptied after the government funded boom from the cash for clunkers program, with General Motors Co and Chrysler hardest hit. Sales for General Motors Co and Chrysler dropped by 45% and 42%, respectively. Ford managed to hold its sales decline to 5% from a year earlier despite low inventories and reduced incentives for car…

A government data showed that US jobless claims rose to a higher than expected 654,000 in the past week as businesses moved rapidly to cut payrolls amid a prolonged recession. Even with the unemployment rate presently at a 25 year high of 8.1%. The Labor Department said that the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 9,000 in the week ending March 7th 2009 from the previous week’s…

Mr Otto Lindner head of Volkswagen's Mexico operations said that it expects Mexico's automotive production to fall by 30% due to the global recession. Back in January 2009, it predicted an output decline of 20% for 2009. Currently, VW’s Puebla plant in Mexico is operating at partial capacity. It is in Mexico where the firm manufactures the Jetta, Beetle and SportWagon, also known as the Golf Variant. Mr…

It is reported that the widely-expected iron ore market advance after the week-long holiday has yet to occur, fanning concerns whether the market would continue the pre-holiday boom or collapse inflicted by the world credit crisis. Both steel and iron ore market are struggling in dire condition at the moment, resulting in stalemate in the sector since both buyers and sellers are keeping waiting in light of…

Traditionally, sand cores are used to create complex internal geometries in cast parts, such as those found in the automotive industry. These are often produced using the additive manufacturing process known as binder jetting. “The challenge,” Erhard explains, “is that we frequently encounter technical limitations when designing hollow structures in cast components. The trade-off between mechanical strength…

Small wind power in China could reach 3-10 GW of installed capacity in 2010 if a set of measures laid out by a small wind roadmap for China. The small roadmap study outlines how China can support the small wind power and follows support by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) to develop a China wind energy roadmap in 2005. The new small wind power roadmap document looks…

With this transaction, Rheinmetall has parted with its entire pistons trade, after the large-bore pistons trade had already been sold in January 2023. The disposal of the pistons trade is part of Rheinmetall's strategic realignment, which was launched in 2021 aiming at reducing Rheinmetall's dependence on combustion engine-related products. With the sale to Comitans, the Rheinmetall Group has achieved its…

Friedrichshafen. ZF presents the latest generation of electric drives for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. It sets standards through outstanding power density and energy efficiency. energy efficiency. ZF achieves this thanks to numerous innovations at both the component and the system level. These include the the compact design of the drives, the so-called "discrete approach" to power…